Le's open a Host Club for lonely women
HOST CLUBS PROVIDE ERSATZ LOVE FOR A PRICE (YAHOO NEWS)
By Linda Sieg
Dressed all in white and smiling, Yuka and Manato stand side-by-side before a pyramid of champagne glasses, framed in an arch of white, pink and red balloons.
"I really love Manato," says Yuka, while a score of black-suited young men kneel before them, chanting loudly.
"I'll never forget this day," he replies.
The scene in the dark, smoky night club seems modeled on a wedding, but no nuptials are under way.
Instead, Yuka is paying around 1 million yen ($8,700) for the champagne the pair pour into the tower of glasses to mark Manato's 25th birthday at Club Raphael, a "host club" where women are pampered by the men of their dreams -- for a price.
Around 150 such host clubs dot the streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district, ranging from small ones like Club Raphael to the famed Ladies' Club Ai a few blocks away, where more than 170 gigolos are employed to ply their trade in a glitzy night spot complete with dance floor and band.
"Hosts say things that ordinary guys are too embarrassed to say. They are sweet-talk professionals," says Yuka, 27, fingering the beads adorning her dyed-brown hair.
"This place isn't real," she added. "It's like Neverland."
Host clubs have been around for decades, but in recent years have become the focus of a media blitz that has made them seem more mainstream, if not necessarily respectable.
The TV drama "Yaoh," King of the Night, based on a popular manga comic, was a big hit with viewers before its tale of a host dedicated to "making every woman happy" ended in March.
Top-ranking hosts have turned TV celebrities, and Internet sites and magazines devoted to the topic provide a plethora of information for would-be hosts and nervous novice clients.
"It used to be that women were afraid of getting caught going to a host club, so they went in the back way. Not anymore," Takashi Aida, 66, who founded Club Ai in 1971 and now owns five night clubs in Kabukicho, told Reuters in an interview.
"Now everyone comes in the front," says Aida, flashing four diamond rings, a diamond-studded watch and a diamond tie clip.
FOR LOVE OF MONEY
For hosts like Manato, who worked a string of low-paid jobs before turning gigolo, the attraction of the job is clear.
"I'm not very bright, so this is the only way I can make a lot of money," says Manato, his dyed-brown hair pulled up in a partial top-knot and wearing a subtle smidgen of lipstick.
Popular hosts at Club Raphael can average around $25,000 a month, while stars at Club Ai rake in as much as $45,000 -- almost entirely from commissions on the liquor they persuade their female customers to buy, managers at the clubs said.
"I made as much last month as in three years at my old job" says 25-year-old Kiyomaru, a slender high school dropout who attained No.1 status at Club Ai after 10 months as a host.
Whether hosts provide after-hours services is up to them.
"If customers have money, they can do what they want with the host -- go on dates, go out to dinner, have a physical relationship," Kiyomaru says.
Many hosts drift into the job. Others are looking for a quick fix of funds to start their own business. Some say they enjoy the attention they get, but still don't plan to hang around long.
"I've been on TV. I've been in magazines. People I don't know, know me. I can do what I like. I can be famous," said Kiyomaru. "Now I've reached the top, I need to find a new goal."
Competition is intense to become a top-ranking host like Kiyomaru -- the designated darling of customers willing to shell out wads of cash for a stream of liquor and romantic patter.
LONELY WOMEN
Many hosts, though, drop out after the merest taste of a tough apprenticeship that begins with scrubbing toilets and can include trolling the streets to solicit or "catch" customers.
Even successful hosts tend to quit the business after a couple of years, worn out by the heavy drinking and late hours.
The appeal for female customers is more of a mystery, for all the hosts' talk of making the women feel like princesses.
Night club hostesses and sex industry workers looking to turn the tables after an evening of catering to men account for a large percentage of the clientele, those in the business say.
"I come for a change of pace. Maybe there are people here who want to deceive me, but as long as I know what I'm doing I can enjoy myself," said Reika, 56, a long-time Club Ai customer who runs her own night club nearby.
Students and office workers looking for a thrill and middle-aged housewives and businesswomen with money to spend can also be found smoking and drinking with a bevy of hosts.
"It's the mirror image of hostess clubs," said John Clammer, a sociology professor at Tokyo's Sophia University. "You've got a lot of working women, single, getting a bit older and probably not going to get married, and they can afford it."
Beneath the glitter and ersatz romance, though, lurks a melancholy strain. As Club Ai PR adviser Mitsue Nakumura put it:
"They have money and they have free time, but I think they are lonely women."
Ripoff Report: 805-698-8127 (cell) or 702-354-6912 or dzgirl69@yahoo.com
She took $300 and told me "Now go wash up". When I was in the bathroom, she took off with the money. Apparently comes to LA on the weekends.
One of her posts:
[url]http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/ers/181967013.html[/url]
After several tries to match schedules, she finally shows up 45 min late. Originally said I would be her last stop before heading out of LA, but now said she's not heading out. Her Craigslist ads had said she come to LA from Las Vegas for the weekends. So she arrives, asks questions like "what do you do, what is this place", etc. Original plan was supposed to be $400 for an hour, but because we had only 20 min left (she was late), she said let's do $300 and she will fit everything in and it will be great. Then she said "I take the money upfront", so I gave it to her. Then she started to unbutton her shirt, and said "please get undressed and go wash yourself". So I did, and while I was in the bathroom she bolted out the door with the money.
Romey: Streets are spotty but not dead
Hottie Gallery on Pig has been hot lately but one LE appearance and it's like magic- 10 SW will disappear in a matter of minutes...
Forget the old Alvarado runs- that area is really dead right now...
Sunset and it's overpriced walkers are hit and miss...
Dark meat on LBB south of 105 all the time with the occasional LSW or WSW plus the TJ girls are still around the no-tel just south of King Taco...
Harbor is its usual lukewarm for the summertime.. lots of the Harbor girls are on CL OC so you can save the gas...
AMP houses in San Gabriel are hot- they are a dime a dozen. Full package for under $1.5 at most of them...
Happy Hunting!
RomeyClone Welcome Back Brother
[QUOTE=RomeyClone]Just got back from the sandbox, and havent had much time to monger. Someone gimme a quick rundown on what I've missed in a year and a half or so. Speck? Webcams? Baldy? The Great Daddy Lows?? You guys still out there??
I see that the Sunset east track is still spotty, Le Sun and the other Inglewood AMPS were shut down. I cruised the Olympic/Alvarado and 8th/Union area, totally dead, not like it was a few years ago. I see the hotty gallery is still rockin, how about LBB north of Imperial? South of the 105?? How's action at the Hub at LBB and Alondra?? PCH in LBC?? Harbor Bl?? Century between Prairie and 405??
I did get a chance to go to Spearmint Rhino downtown. ZERO extras available. Gonna have to head out to Industry soon!!
[/QUOTE] Welcome Back Brother Very Long time no see? Where oh where have you been hiding?
Let me give you my [i]quick[/i] run down.
First Spearmint Rhino Industry so Much Better then downtown, Van Nuys the girls are acting funny and the good service girls either moved on, or are less adventurous these days.
Inglewood Is DEAD completely don't even consider it.
Hot Action is very spotty at the least like others have said, The old staples hold true though, Sepulveda Bl. in the Valley, Figueroa In LA, & LBB In Compton.
Action is mostly late night early morning 12-5 Am, but limited action can be found in most spots 24-7, LAPD cracked down hard on the Valley scene this past week but it was creeping up to a very decent level. Track Runs Sepulveda Between Roscoe & 101 Fwy.
Figueroa is so up and down not sure what to make of it, the track now runs the entire length, Vernon down to Imperial Highway. Weekends you never know where you will find them anymore.
LBB Near the Compton mall is a sure bet smart and final end is dead, Hit Cash and a few others on the track although I prefer it the least, Sheriffs are to tough sometimes. Action is out on all 3 tracks, Be Safe - Have Fun; Oh and like [b][url=www.btls.com]Bubba[/url][/b] Says,
[center] " [b]Fuck this Place It's Bullshit I'm Outta Here![/b] "[/center]